Do As I Say
by theresnomeaning
Summary: In which Severus Snape watches Harry Potter making a very similar mistake that he did once in his youth and decides to do something about that. One-shot.


_**Summary: **__In which Severus Snape watches Harry Potter making a very similar mistake that he did once in his youth and decides to do something about that._

_**Warnings/explanations: **_

_1) AU - Voldemort was gone for good in 1981;_

_2) Obviously, Harry isn't a Horcrux, but he will be a parselmouth anyway;_

_3) Slytherin!Harry, Gryffindor!Hermione;_

_4) The story happens during Harry's sixth year._

**Do As I Say**

Severus Snape, Potions professor at Hogwarts walked through the corridors in the dungeons when he spotted Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott talking in an isolated corner.

"He is very depressed," Malfoy said.

"Of course he is," hissed Nott "he loves the mudbl—"

"Shhh!" Draco cut the other boy off. "If he hears you saying that you will be hexed!"

"But Harry himself called her a mudblood!" Nott said, a little exasperated.

Severus smirked. Harry Potter had convinced half of Slytherin house to stop calling muggleborns by that horrible name - a name that brought him only painful memories.

"Yes, but he was nervous, you know that!" Draco interjected. "He regretted it right after the words left his mouth, I am sure. He is just to proud to apologize to Granger."

Severus walked away. He remembered the episode between Potter and Granger. He had been there when it happened.

Some Gryffindors - namely Ronald Weasley, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan - decided to prank Potter when he was alone. Since Harry's first year they picked on him because he was a snake, oftenly pranking him in humiliating ways.

It didn't help that during Harry's two first years at Hogwarts he was ostracized by his own house for being the boy-who-lived, and a half-blood. So the Slytherins disliked him for having vanquished the Dark Lord; and the other houses - save Ravenclaw - disliked him for being a Slytherin. Some boys and girls from his year - Nott, Malfoy, Greengrass and Bulstrode - tried to befriend him, to no result, though.

However, there was a girl who never hostilized Potter - Hermione Granger, a muggleborn Gryffindor. They were often seen together in the Library and near the lake. Harry was a bit shy and awkward with relationships - that much Severus could tell; - later on he would find out that this was caused by Harry's neglectful and sometimes verbal abusive relatives.

In Harry's third year it was discovered that he was a parselmouth - and then the snakes accepted him. Probably because of his practice of a relationship with the Gryffindor girl he made some friends within Slytherin after that.

The Gryffindors, though, continued to pick on Harry, especially because of his friendship with Hermione.

Two weeks earlier, after a Potions class, Ronald Weasley and Dean Thomas confunded Harry and he stumbled on his own feet, hurting his head on the process. Extremely humiliated, he drew his wand and was going to hex the Gryffindors. It was then that Granger stopped him, putting herself between his wand and her housemates. Then she proceeded to verbally defend Potter. That didn't go well, not at all.

_"I don't need you to defend me, Granger." Harry said coolly._

_"Harry, if you hexed them you would end up in trouble!" the girl protested._

_"I don't care. You shouldn't have stopped me, much less take away my own right of defend myself!"_

_Hermione sighed._

_"I am your friend, Harry, I just wanted to help you..."_

_"I don't need help," Harry hissed angrily. Several students were watching that. "Next time keep your mudblood nose out of my business!"_

_And with that Granger walked away, with hard steps, looking visibly hurt._

_"Fuck!" Harry swore and buried his head on his hands._

That situation haunted Severus. Sure, there wasn't the presence of a Dark Lord hovering over the teens' lives, and hardly Potter would end up being the reason for Granger's death like he caused Lily's. However, he wouldn't watch them growing apart like he and his friend did in the past.

~ . ~

Severus had said for Harry to stay after class. It had been two weeks since that incident with the Granger girl. The boy didn't look well. There were purple circles around his eyes, he clearly wasn't sleeping enough in the last two weeks.

Harry was looking at him, expecting what Snape was going to say.

"Mr. Potter, I honestly believe that it would be wise if you apologized to Miss Granger."

The boy looked at him indignantly.

"Do the other Heads of House meddle with their students' relationships?" he asked, seeming annoyed.

"Mind your cheek, Mr. Potter, I would hate to take points from my own house."

"Sorry sir."

"Apologize to Granger, Mr. Potter. Don't let your relationship with her end because of your pride," Severus said with a soft, yet determinated tone.

"I'll think about it, sir, thank you."

"You are welcome, Mr. Potter. You may go."

~ . ~

One week later Potter looked for Severus and once again thanked the professor for giving him that advice. It took some more weeks for the teens to fully reconcile, but it worked in the end.

In the end of Harry's last year he and Hermione began to date.

And four years later Severus received the invitation for their marriage. There was a note attached to it, where it was read:

_Dear Professor,_

_Thank you for that advice (you know which). Maybe it wouldn't happen if not for that._

_Harry Potter._

Severus smiled and shuddered when he thought about the brats Granger and Potter would spawn and that he would have to teach.

~ Fin ~


End file.
